This "Informed Educator" examines the use of small learning communities to address the disadvantages of large, comprehensive schools in a cost effective manner. The different types of small learning communities are described, and the research on both small schools and small learning communities is discussed. Lastly, issues that should be addressed…

Describes the Clarkton School of Discovery in Clarkton, North Carolina, a gifted-and-talented magnet middle school that is open to all students in the school district. (SR)

Describes development of a before-and-after-school extended day program for a magnet school. (RH)

This guide for parents and students provides descriptions of the 22 magnet schools and 4 magnet programs which make up the city-wide magnet district of the Boston public schools. The information provided was gathered through interviews with administrators, teachers, parents and students at each of the 26 sites. Principals and headmasters at each…

The Thomas J. Pappas Regional Education Center in Phoenix, Arizona, is a magnet school for homeless students from unorganized territories, military installations, Indian reservations, and national forest lands. This "accommodation" school, supported by federal grants, in-kind business donations, and committed volunteer mentors from the…

Describes the reasoning behind and services provided at the Thomas J. Pappas regional education center in Phoenix, Arizona, a magnet school for homeless students from all over the Phoenix area. Notes that the center provides some stability and extensive support to students. (SR)

Discusses the record of magnet schools in increasing and equalizing student opportunity, building educational quality, and improving student learning. (SR)

Politicians and chambers of commerce in Prince George's County, Maryland, recognized the need to improve opportunities for and achievement by Black students. Magnet and compensatory programs were implemented, as well as the "Comer School Development Program," which places special emphasis on parental involvement. (MLW)

The Zoo School, housed in the Grand Rapids, Michigan, city zoo, provides a challenging one-year program for highly motivated, but not necessarily gifted, sixth graders. Using the zoo as a laboratory, its goal is to teach students about the contemporary world and to develop them as independent learners. (Author/SJL)

A year-round magnet elementary school in Salem, Massachusetts, has increased its family involvement by borrowing elements from many models. The school has mixed-age groupings, integrated social services, and community outreach strategies such as a parent center, business-sponsored Friday clubs, and celebrations of learning. (MLH)

This booklet provides parents and students with information about individual schools and programs within the Boston Public School system. The first section answers common questions about enrollment procedures, school assignments, bilingual education programs, kindergarten, transportation eligibility, family changes of address, and parent…

The Buffalo Public Schools have developed magnet schools to aid desegregation plans and to provide for different student needs and learning styles. The Academic Challenge Center is designed to meet concerns about declining reading and math scores. The Buffalo Traditional School emphasizes traditional learning styles and puts a high priority on…

Describes programs in four of Milwaukee's specialty schools--a school for the gifted and talented, one for the creative arts, one for foreign languages, and one emphasizing the basics. (IRT)

Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory of intelligence presupposes that students exhibit at least three kinds of intelligence: creative, practical, and analytical. Staff at the Wake County (North Carolina) School System designed learning activities to give students balanced experiences and a time to shine in the learning mode that suits them best.…

Describes the Horizons-on-the-Hudson Magnet School for the Gifted and Talented, an inner-city school of the Newburgh Enlarged School District (New York). The programs of the K-6 school have drawn a diverse student population to take advantage of the options designed to expand a child's horizons. (SLD)